DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Grows Stock Position in Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,544,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,333 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $88,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 6.4 %

NYSE WFC traded down $3.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.26. 27,642,566 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,512,784. The company has a market cap of $185.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $38.38 and a 1-year high of $62.55.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 12th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 15.17%. The business had revenue of $20.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WFC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $59.00 to $61.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Argus increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.91.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.